Easy access to calorie and sedentary life styles have led to the pandemics of Type 2 diabetes to affect over one billion adults and a lot more in the prediabetic insulin resistance stage (1, 2). Currently, in the United States alone, there are over 29 million people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which cost $245 billion annually (3).
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance, which may be combined with relatively reduced insulin secretion. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease, for which there is no known cure except in very specific situations. Type 2 Diabetes management concentrates on keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal, without causing low blood sugar. The current methods of type 2 diabetes management include a healthy diet, exercise, weight loss, and use of appropriate medications. Those medications include, among others, Metformin, as well as possibly insulin.
Current medications for treating Type 2 diabetes can cause deleterious effects to various extents. For example, thiazolidinedione (TZDs, Actos, Avandia), an insulin sensitizer for treating type 2 diabetes, can cause body weight gain, heart failure, fracture and certain types of cancer (4, 5). Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop more effective and safer treatments for Type 2 diabetes.
In a recent study, a human being who stayed in climate-controlled rooms at 19° C. for one month, or 14-15° C. for 10 days, had significantly increased insulin sensitivity (6, 7). However, these current approaches are not practically operational for clinical utilizations, nor are preferred by patients because of the uncomfortableness of cold.
Acupuncture is considered to be an effective therapy for regulating pain and managing many other functions of the body, for example chronic muscle spasm and neurological dysfunctions. More recently, electroacupuncture (EA) was developed and shown to significantly enhance traditional acupuncture treatments. EA are similar to traditional acupuncture except that the needles are attached to a device that sends electrical currents or pulses into the body.